Sherdog.com’s 2012 Comeback Fighter of the Year

For a time, the former
World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion wondered
whether or not he possessed the necessary means to return to the
pinnacle of his profession. When one incurs four losses and a draw
in one six-fight span, such uncertainty tends to seep in.

“I felt like I’d just lost whatever I had, whatever drive,
motivation, fire that I had,” Varner told the Sherdog Radio
Network’s “Cheap Seats” program. “I felt like I had lost it. I’d
lost a sense of who I was as a fighter and as a competitor. I think
coming back to Arizona and kind of just saying screw it ... I guess
you could say I like to fight. I like to compete. I wasn’t done
competing. I just had to kind of find my love for the sport again.
That was what made it more difficult for me.”

First-round finishes on Nate Jolly
and Drew
Fickett cleared his head. When an injured Evan Dunham
withdrew from his scheduled showdown with undefeated Brazilian
prospect Edson
Barboza at UFC
146, a path was cleared and Varner set down both feet upon it.
The 28-year-old
MMA Lab representative upset Barboza, engaged in a “Fight of
the Year” contender with Joe Lauzon and
polished off his campaign with a split decision victory over
Melvin
Guillard, cementing himself as the Sherdog.com “Comeback
Fighter of the Year” for 2012.

“I think going to the Lab and training with some of those guys,
being around John Crouch and getting back to my old ways with
Trevor
Lally over at Arizona Combat Sports, I found a love for the
sport again,” Varner said. “I just quit putting so much pressure on
myself. I think that’s what made it fun and that’s what allowed me
to have this amazing 2012.”

His crossroads bout with Barboza went down May 26, as Varner
entered the cage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas as a
4-to-1 underdog. Many anticipated a one-sided shellacking. Instead,
in his first
Ultimate Fighting Championship appearance since November 2007,
Varner sprang a stunning upset and stopped the highly touted
Brazilian on punches 3:23 into the first round.

Varner ate some horrific leg kicks but punched his way into the
clinch and rattled Barboza with his heavy hands. With the
lightweight prospect in retreat, Varner bashed him with a straight
right hand, trailed his fallen opponent to the mat and finished it
with punches and hammerfists.

“I have to thank the UFC for bringing me back,” Varner said. “Once
you’ve hit rock bottom, you can really appreciate some of the
places that you have been. Barboza was tough, man. He’s scary good.
I didn’t care if I won or lost; I just wanted to put on a good
performance. I wanted to fight for the fans.”

Three months later, Varner was back inside the Octagon, again on
short notice. The Phoenix native submitted to a Lauzon triangle
choke 2:44 into the third round of their memorable UFC
on Fox 4 scrap on Aug. 4 at the Staples Center in Los
Angeles.

Varner, who filled in as a late substitution for Terry Etim,
staggered Lauzon with one right hand in the first round and leveled
him with another. He swarmed “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 alum
on the ground to no avail and returned to his corner between rounds
visibly fatigued.

Lauzon sank his teeth into the fight in the second period, where he
twice moved to the Arizona-based lightweight’s back and ultimately
mounted him with roughly half a minute remaining in the round.
Varner secured a takedown in round three, only to be swept by
Lauzon. The 28-year-old Massachusetts native then trapped Varner in
a triangle during the transition, coaxing the tapout.

In defeat, Varner banked a $50,000 bonus for “Fight of the Night”
and, more importantly, locked down some desirable job security.

A proposed battle with the gifted but volatile Guillard was soon
knocking at the door. The two lightweights agreed to meet one
another as part of “The Ultimate Fighter 16” Finale on Dec. 15.
However, Varner came down with an illness the day of the fight,
forcing its postponement. Guillard claimed fear was behind the
sudden development, but the bout was rescheduled for
UFC 155 two weeks later in Las Vegas.

Varner quieted his opponent and his critics, as takedowns,
ground-and-pound and effective power punching carried him to a
split verdict on the “Dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2” undercard.

Guillard leaned heavily on leg kicks, particularly in the first
round. Varner was not dissuaded. The resurgent MMA Lab export
absorbed the punishment and kept pressing forward, his stout right
hand firing freely. In rounds two and three, he brought out the
takedowns, answering Guillard’s jab and leg kicks by grounding him
repeatedly. Varner delivered three takedowns in the third frame
alone and withstood a Hail Mary armbar attempt from his
Florida-based foe.

Once believed to be on the verge of retirement, Varner now casts a
hopeful eye on the future.

“I’ve got anywhere from three to eight years left,” he said. “I
just want to make the most of it and I want to be able to go out on
my own terms and hopefully work my way up to a world title.”